Motorola Inc - Essay Example

Discuss internal strengths and weakness: As one of the leaders of innovation, backed by over 80 years of history, Motorola Inc. is one of the mostdiversified companies. Everything from the first radio to the hand held portable phone, Motorola has contributed many groundbreaking inventions designed to improve the quality of digital technology. However like most companies Motorola has its stronger side and its weaker side. It is only by recognizing both these aspects and working on its flaws will Motorola truly grow within the ever changing market. One of the most powerful tools any company can have is being a recognizable face in the industry. Motorola Inc. has been the head of telecommunications for nearly a century, delivering high standard devices. They began with the first two way radio, to the car phone and finally the cellular phone. Motorola is known for the dependability and durability of its products. They have a reputation of delivering on their commitments in producing the most innovative systems to help the way people connect. This has created a solid foundation of loyal customers. To their clients, Motorola is committed to offering quality service. They invest time and money into improving and implementing strategies in client care. Besides being the constant and stable company of telecommunications. Motorola has also developed strong ties within the community. They have been actively taking part of the green movement by creating a plan to reduce green-house gas emissions. Motorola has also put into action a recycling program allowing users to send in unwanted cell phones and equipments. Motorola is constantly striving to improve their company’s standards to maintain their goals. Every company’s combination of strength is accompanied by their fair share of weaknesses. The more diversified Motorola has become the more difficult it has been for them to keep organized within the companies’ infrastructure. There are difficulties in managing each section of the company, especially concerning the over-seas market. With countries such as China who are developing their own technological breakthroughs. Motorola is facing a deficiency when it comes to keeping up with their competition. They have seen in serious decline in revenue over the past few years. They have also lacked the capabilities to regain control of the market. This is turn hurting their reputation of being the leaders in innovation. This is leaving an open door for their competition to saturate the industry with their newer products and services. A review and re-structure of the companies’ managerial international sectors is needed if they are to maintain their overall objectives. Each and every company faces its own number struggles and setbacks. The survival of these low times is dependent on a strong marketing plan. This is also done by recognizing and addressing each weakness and strength of the corporation. For a company like Motorola who has seen its share of delays during its 80 years of business life should be fully equipped in maintaining their reputation. They are continuously pushing their limits and boundaries to remain consistent in their product and services. 2. Define current strategy: A company strategy should reflect the overall goals of the organization. Whether the main objective is expansion or restructuring, it should be reflected within the fiscal plan. Motorola’s overall goals might be simple enough, to gain competitive advantage and diversification in the market. However, the strategy on the other hand is more complex. The fierce competition of the global technological market and high customer demand of quality products makes it difficult for just one company to dominate over another. In order to regain some level of control over the company’s structure and profitability a certain amount of downsizing was needed. In 2007, Motorola decided to restructure their entire human resource department. This included all personnel from direct offices as well as those who were sub-contractors of service centers and franchises. By December 2007, the company had let go of approximately 13,000 employees, both direct and indirectly working for Motorola. In 2008, another 2,800 employees had found themselves at the receiving end of the un-employment line. To help maintain good contact within the company, they implemented a “global communications” system allowing all affiliates and stockholders to remain connected and informed. This gave the same access to everyone about the company’s information on new products and services. As well as helping to maintain their customer care sectors, by ensuring that everyone is fully qualified to answer any questions that may arise about a recently launched merchandise. Competing on an international level is not what it used to be in the early 80’s when Motorola first developed and unveiled the cellular phone. The telecommunication industry has become a fierce and growing market. Motorola’s strategy rather than following suite and trying to play catch-up with its competitors revealed a new and unique product “WiMAX 802.16e, mobile handoff.” They kept in line with their own strengths and combined a new invention while broadening their market potential. This new audience would include those that are normally forgotten such as blue collar workers and those in third world countries. They accomplished this by introducing the recycle program in which Motorola was able to refurbish old materials for resale. This in turn also helped to cut down cost of manufacturing and allowed Motorola to connect with those regions which cellular technology is not readily available. To gain better leverage on the global market Motorola formed “alliances and international joint ventures with other companies”. This is preventative action taken by the company to ensure the safeguard of its assets. Considering the high cost in developmental research, and the risk in producing items that may never be used on the market, the company would find it difficult to recover such a loss. By combining efforts with other industries Motorola has lowered its chances of suffering such failures. The strategies implemented by Motorola sticks to the company’s core values of quality and service. Although the company has suffered some cut backs and set-backs in operations, it never let it affect their high customer service standards. They are consistently pushing the limits of technology to offer the latest in digital innovation. Source: Motorola Mobility, Inc 2011 3. Critically discuss how Motorola could formulate an ulternative… With its rich heritage and best known brands, Motorola is the leader of innovation and global communications. They have committed to offering the best quality in digital technology and superior customer service for over 80 years. Motorola is unique in its diversity. They developed technology that allowed communication on the lunar landing; they introduced the 2way hand radios which lead to the first cellular phone. Over the past century Motorola has contributed to every digital milestone, placing them at the top of the innovation chain. The more our technology advances, the higher the market demands become. This has left room for competing companies to launch their new products and services. Motorola has been the dominate character for so long and is now facing difficulties with keeping up with the competition. This is especially seen in the global sector. Between the fierce competition and country’s economy, Motorola has had to implement some counter methods to help turn things around. Through recognizing the company’s strength and weaknesses, Motorola was able to derive a working strategy. However there are some sectors which Motorola could emphasize that would help them to achieve their goals. Throughout Motorola’s innovation history, they have always been the first to introduce the latest in digital technology. However, with the competing companies such as Verizon and Sony who are creating the same type of products backed by similar technology as Motorola, the 3G Mobile phones for example. Motorola is finding they are falling behind the competition rather than leading. It is imperative for Motorola to break away from the opposition while keeping in line with their diversity and excellent service. They can accomplish this by introducing a new versatile device. A fresh product that combines technology with better user friendly components that caters to the needs of today’s society. With the fast paste digital world users need systems that would help to make their lives easier rather than creating more problems. People are continuously looking for higher quality products that would allow them faster and easier access to the information they need. Thus, by making and implementing strategies to make their new gadgets easier to understand, simpler usage and better troubleshooting issues, Motorola could easily regain domination in the telecommunications market. Motorola should also consider widening their targeted market. The baby boomers make up for the largest consumer population. They also make up the majority of loyal customers to Motorola. Keeping this group in mind, Motorola could develop products that are specifically designed for new or first time users. This requires of a bit of imagination on the part of the engineering in developing a system that uses new technology with older style design. However Motorola would be helping to empower the older generation who are unfamiliar with computerized devices. The successful potential of such a system would put Motorola back at the top of the communications market. Our society is also facing a certain shift with the green movement. More and more people are becoming concerned with the environment and the impact our actions have on the planet. There are many companies that have already made the switch to only using recycled and eco-friendly products. Recognizing Motorola’s recycling program and their commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Motorola needs to continue to push the limits by creating environmentally friendly products. There is a lot of market potential within this niche. If Motorola were to re-format their hardware and find ways to reduce carbon emissions, they would find themselves in a league of their own. Investing some time and energy into a new marketing plan would benefit the company. Because of their brand name Motorola is a recognizable face in the industry, however most of the younger generation is not familiar with them. Redesigning an advertizing campaign that shows Motorola’s vast history and contributions to telecommunication would re-invent Motorola’s image of dependability and durability. Motorola has a strong advantage over its competition with its history. No other telecommunication company has the same recognition as Motorola. This is an asset that Motorola could easy leverage to come on top of their competition. By formatting campaigns that showcase their past achievements as well as their present accomplishments and their plans for the future, would show the world that they are a cut above the rest. This would also help them to re-establish within the North American market. Being an American company, Motorola’s success is largely based on the consumer demand of the changing times within North America. If Motorola were to share in these milestones with their community, it would reaffirm their loyalty and commitment to the general public. Motorola has many advantages over their competitions. Their weakness lies in the structure of the company’s operations. Motorola has the capacity and the assets to rise up against other companies such as Verizon and T-mobile. They simply need to restructure their strategies to leverage their strengths and minimize their weaknesses. This would enable them to regain their place as the leaders of innovation rather than being seemingly behind the times. With an 80 year old heritage behind them it is time for Motorola to rise up and continue its success throughout the next generation. Read More